The Surprising Ways Voter Suppression Particularly Hurts Women

January 16, 2018

Women face more obstacles to voting than men do.
By Mandy Velez / AlterNet

Trump got one thing right. The voting system is “rigged”—though not in the way he thinks—and it has serious consequences for women.

Every election, poor folks, transgender men and women and communities of color across genders have to jump hurdles to access one of their basic American rights, thanks to new rules that shorten polling hours, cut the number of polling places in districts, change up geographic voting lines and require IDs to vote. Not the easiest circumstances for people who can’t afford to take time off or pay for costly government documents, or may not own a car.

The issue is compounded for women. Voter ID laws alone account for an estimated 34 percent of women who could be turned away from the polls for not having the right documents, according to the National Organization of Women. Because 90 percent of women change their names when they get married, they often have different names on their identification documents.

Among the people already impacted by these laws are a handful of women who face an even harder struggle. Their time, money and safety are taken for granted—all because of their gender.

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